Internet savvy folks are aware that Google Reader ended service this month.  We were sad.  Ben opted to self host an RSS reader for me and friends.  He has the ability to tweak it's design, because he's smart like that. 

Sometimes when I'm browsing my internet feeds, I am assaulted by snakes.  Like this one.  And this one.  NothankyougoawayImgonnawashmyeyesnow.  I really really hate snakes.  After a request that was mostly a joke, my dear husband did this for me:



"Redacted due to snakes (click to toggle)"

In other words, he filtered snakes out of my RSS feeder!  I'm so happy.  It does a keyword search, so sometimes articles are redacted that don't need to be.  But the title is preserved so I can click to view it if I think it will be safe.  

Thank you Ben!

At dinner Jack has a full glass of chocolate milk.  He spills the whole thing towards me, pooling across the table, on the floor, and on me.  I try to catch it in my skirt. Ben rushes for rags. 

After a long pause, Jack says politely, "I need more chocolate milk."

No kidding, kid. 

We laugh and mop it up.  I opt to shimmy out of my skirt and use it as a rag.  Jack looks at me and says, "You got chocolate milk on your skirt, Mommy."

I chuckle as I run upstairs to change.  What a helpful child.

I can't believe I neglected to post about this for so long.  Last month we had the pleasure of entertaining our good friends the Walkers while Nate had business in Golden!  Oh, how I miss having them around all the time.  We mostly ate, shopped, and talked.  We to the Alamo Drafthouse too.  It was splendid.  Azalea stayed in Idaho, but Jack was all over playing with Cedar - shocking to me.

Gah, the pictures I took are horrible and few.  But I'll share them anyway.   Guys, come back anytime.  Please.

Let's check in on this pregnancy thing.  Little boy is growing bigger and doing well, as far as we can tell on this side of the uterus.  I'm 31 weeks pregnant now, which is firmly in the third trimester (40 is the goal).  My friend posted her itty bitty bump so I was inspired to post my belly too. It's quite a bit bigger, even considering I have a few weeks head start on her.





Thoughts at this point:

• It's hot.
• I still suffer from chronic nerve pain on the right side of my groin.  Nothing helps.  The intensity of the pain depends on where he is settled at the moment. Usually it's a dull ache while sitting or standing.  Sometimes when I turn over in bed it's sharp and makes me wince and cry.  Sometimes it's burning pain.  I really hope the SI problems I had with Jack don't stack on top of this in the last few weeks. 
• I'm having some serious heartburn this time around.  I don't remember much of any with Jack.  Zantac is awesome.
• I dropped a bobby pin today.  I stared at it for 4 seconds, said "Meh," and walked away.  Some things aren't worth bending down for anymore. 
• It's hot.  
• McDonalds will give you a giant bag of ice for $1.  I can go through a bag in 5 days.  
• I've pretty much given up on pants.  I have a couple maternity pairs that fit, but what's the point when there are cotton jersey skirts in the world?  Did I mention how hot I am?
• We have three top names.  One has a solid middle name choice, but the first name is our least favorite.  The other two first names are great, but we haven't settled on good middle names for them.  Our favorite first name is the trickiest to match with a middle.  More so than with Jack, I think we will need to see the new baby and spend a little time trying them out before deciding. 
• I wake up about 2-4 times per night for nerve pain or bathroom breaks.  I'm trying to remember the first couple months of waking with a newborn.  That makes me grateful for the sleep that I am managing to get.  
• Many more Braxton Hicks contractions this time around.  
• I miss bacon.  
• I miss runny eggs.
• Jack is totally on board with the idea of a new brother.  He gets that he is growing in my tummy now.  He asks to see the ultrasound and feel kicking.  He tells me how excited he is to give him a bottle.  I think this is going to be another good transition.  For good measure, we should make sure baby brother brings Jack a new Transformer from the hospital. 
• The nursery needs a lot of work to get ready for the baby.  Decorations, clothes sorted, diapers purchased, rocking chair, and bottles/pump cleaned.  I have zero nesting urge.  Hopefully that changes sometime soon.  
• It's really nice not having to be a full time RN this summer.  I regret nothing.  I love being Jack's mom.  

(Ponchos are awesome too.  Thanks Miranda for lending this one!) (Who doesn't take selfies while supervising their child's hand washing?  Isn't that the norm?)

Jack and I descended on my parents abode for the holiday week.  I had three goals:
1) Pick up baby things I had stored at their house
2) Do more work training
3) Put Jack in the pool

Happily, I accomplished all three!  Amanda was able to come down too.  Ben had a quiet week back in Arvada while we brought the non-stop questions and playing to Grand Junction.  I think we swam every morning and evening, about 3 hours a day at least.  It was great fun.

As usual, more pictures and video are on my flickr photostream.  

Pre-trip, dancing with stars at Story Time.


On the evening we arrived Jack was ready to swim.  He was so zonked by the end of the day, I found him in this position at bedtime and he hadn’t moved by morning. 

Legos


Periscopes and Parachutes


 

We found that the best flotation tool was a noodle.  He could stay afloat and move around better than with the vest or the water wings.   

[Video originally hosted on Flickr]

The slide was a big hit.

[Video originally hosted on Flickr]

He didn’t expect to go underwater again.  But he was really brave about it every time!

[Video originally hosted on Flickr]

On the Fourth, we went with pool glowing toys instead of fireworks. 


Grandpa juggling

Glowstick balls


The fire pit had a little gas leak or we would have made s’mores on it.


Sad to leave on Friday, but excited to see Dad in Arvada. 

I love knitting things for babies.

We sold our house!

Our house has been listed for only a few days and we've had ten showings and three offers.  Wow!